Economy in Brief: May 2016

The Composite Index of Nonmanufacturing Sector Business Activity from the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) increased to 55.7 during April versus an unrevised 54.5 in March. It was the highest reading since December. Consensus [...]

Nonfarm output per hour during Q1'16 fell 1.0% at an annual rate (+0.6% y/y) following a 1.7% Q4'15 shortfall, revised from -2.2%. A 1.5% decline had been expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. It was the fourth [...]

New factory orders jumped up 1.1% m/m in March following a slightly revised 1.9% m/m decline in February in a continuation of the recent monthly see-saw pattern. The Action Economics Forecast Survey had anticipated a 0.6% m/m rise for [...]

Euro area retail sales fell in March for the first time since October 2015. The 0.5% drop is the largest drop since sales fell by 0.5% in September 2014. That drop proved to a one-off affair and sales thereafter accelerated. In this [...]

The U.S. foreign trade deficit decreased to $40.4 billion in March from $47.0 billion in February, marginally revised from $47.1 billion. A deficit of $41.5 billion was expected in the Action Economics Forecast Survey. Exports of [...]

The ADP/Moody's National Employment Report indicated that nonfarm private sector payrolls rose 156,000 during April (2.0% y/y) following a 194,000 increase in March, revised from 200,000. The rise compared to an average monthly [...]

U.S. consumers' attraction to light trucks bolstered overall vehicle sales last month. Total sales of light vehicles during April increased 5.1% (4.0% y/y) from March to 17.42 million units (SAAR), and recovered most of the prior [...]

Regular gasoline prices increased to $2.24 per gallon last week (-15.9% y/y) after rising to $2.16 in the prior week, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Prices were at the highest level since October. The price compares to a [...]